Mealworm Farming

Mealworms are a great source of protein and a easy way to be a bit more self sufficient. They really aren’t even a worm tho. The darkling beetle lays an egg and the larvae that grows is the mealworm. The mealworm grows until It pupates to become a beetle. Easy life cycle. The beetles cannot fly (generally) and do not bite. They don’t spins web, really not a nuisance at all.

To farm them, start with mealworms from a breeder. Sometimes in a pet store they can be treated with hormones to delay pupating. Order a few thousand. Use wheat bran if you can find it at a feed store as the bedding (substrate). They will eat this and burrow in it. You will need some carrots or potato. Lastly, you will need a tub to put them in. I suggest something you have at the house. Needs to be at least 3” tall. I used old Plastic drawer systems. Cheap and can usually find them Easily.

Now you have all You need to get started. Take the tub and place 3” bran in it. Dump the mealworms in. Place carrots or potato slices on top, just a few, this is their moisture source, we don’t want mold to develop. Knowing how much to put in is a guessing game. They will latch on to the veggie to suck on it, so just watch for a few days to see how many they need. Place the open tub in a warm, dark spot. And wait. Throw some veggies in every few days. The bran will turn to sandy like substance and this is frass (poo,fertilizer). Just add a handful Of bran here and there.

Next you will start to see pupae, they will “float” to the top. As a beginner, I recommend leaving them in there, as you become more advanced, you will sort them out. Make sure you are keeping worms hydrated, if you aren’t, they will suck on the pupae. After a few more days, beetles will emerge. They will be white first- don’t touch- as their shell hardens- they get dark. 3 days and they will be a darkling beetle and hardened off. You can touch now.

Now comes the second tub of 2” bran. Move the beetles to this. Potato’s or carrots. Dark spot. Wait. In 2-3 weeks you will need tub #3. 2” Of bran. Move the beetles to new tub. Tub #2 is now the baby mealworm tub. The beetles were mating and laying thousands of eggs while they were in there and now you want them to grow. No veggies until You actually see them which will be determined by the warmth but could be just a couple Weeks. The easiest way to see the babies, after a few weeks, rake your fingers through the bran. And watch. The bran will Move like sand in the ocean, that’s the babies! Now you give them Some carrots and watch them grow. They will be full size in about 8 weeks.

Meanwhile back at the beetle tub, they are still laying eggs and your gonna move them Every few weeks. The first bin has probably all pupated by now and you can use that tub again.

There is no real wrong way to do a mealworm Farm. They are really forgiving if you neglect them. Don’t keep somewhere over 100f or under 60. Once you have a lot of worms, you can keep In bottom of fridge to keep them from pupating.

The beetle will live a couple Months. When they die, you will get an odor, other than that, should not have an odor. Give the dead ones to the chickens too.

The more you mess with mealworms, the more you will have. It can get out of control easily. You can learn to sift and sort and build a whole barn of them out of an initial purchase of 5,000. There are multiple groups on FB to learn how to do it on a larger scale. As far as the initial purchase, I recommend Midwest Mealworms. Justin started like this and now has grown it into a business, no hormones and ships straight to your door.

I hope this helps You get started on your mealworm journey. Don’t overthink it, it’s easy.